At Javits Center, Food Delicacies Dot the Menu

Pickles and marmalade took center stage at a small sneak preview on Thursday of the Summer Fancy Food Show, a specialty foods trade show that will feature delicacies like goji strawberry gelato and handcrafted Italian salami with black truffles.

About 2,300 companies are expected to exhibit at the trade show, which runs Sunday through Tuesday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Two of them provided samples of new products at Thursday’s preview.

“This must be what it’s like to be a priest,” joked Rick Field, the artisan pickle maker of Rick’s Picks, as he handed out individual servings of his latest offering, the People’s Pickle. On the other side of the table, Sarabeth and Bill Levine of Sarabeth’s Kitchen passed out spoonfuls of blood orange marmalade.

Though the pickle will debut this weekend, two of Mr. Field’s other offerings, along with the Levineses’ marmalade, are in the running for the trade show’s highest honor: a Sofi Gold Award, which organizers say is the Oscar of the food industry.

The list of finalists reads like the menu of a four-star restaurant: organic rose petal jam, dill carrot tomato tapenade and something called the “truffle tremor.”

But in a recession, are exhibitors concerned that there will be less of a market for Vermont cultured butter with sea salt crystals?

“What we’re seeing is there’s still an interest in product differentiation, especially because people are eating more at home,” said Ann Daw, president of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. “Enjoying food has become even more critical.”

Exhibitors are also putting foods in smaller packages for cheaper prices, said Ron Tanner, a vice president of the trade organization.

Most New Yorkers won’t get a taste of the products until they hit supermarket shelves, a process that Mr. Field said can take anywhere “from three days to three months.”

But George Fertitta, chief executive of NYC & Company, the city’s marketing operation, hinted that’s occasionally not the case.

“I know from my own experience, every now and then consumers sneak into the show,” Mr. Fertitta said. “And it’s a real treat.”

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